Not Yet Wise
by Rowana Renee
Summary: For BellatheDisenchanted, because she rawks. A bit of humour, a bit of fluff, mostly awkwardness. Lol, what if Dastan didn't know what his father meant about "not yet wise" because Sharaman asumed that Dastans parents had already said something about it..


Not Yet Wise

Dastan had never been able to figure it out, and now seemed as good a time as any to ask the question that had been plaguing him ever since it had first been brought up. He turned to Garsiv, still marvelling at the fact that his brother could possibly still be alive. Well, he was still in shock that anyone was still alive after what had happened. He was still a bit agrieved that things had had to end with the death of his uncle, but then he supposed that he couldn't save everyone and might as well give up going over it in his head over and over to find one thing he could have done differently.

"Garsiv?" he said tentatively, gently touching his brother on the arm to get his attention.

Garsiv turned toward him with the usual scowl, oblivious to everything that had happened. "What? Want to gloat, Lion of Persia?"

Dastan snorted and gave Garsiv a small push, rolling his eyes and tossing his head dismissively. "No, idiot. I want to ask you a question." now he was downright embarassed, he always _always _tried to avoid asking Garsiv things; for one thing that just announced to the older one that Dastan didn't know something, and for another, he didn't like asking questions that could potentially end in an awkward silence. And, judging by the tone which had provoked this question, it could wind up very awkward indeed.

Garsiv seemed to be hoping as much. He threw an arm around Dastans' shoulder and beamed at him. "Oh really, there's something the Lion actually doesn't know? What could that possibly be? Oh yes, how to follow directions. That's simple, actually, if you'd like me to explain-"

Dastan elbowed him in the gut hard enough to knock the breath from Garsivs' lungs. "No, Siv, it's something else." he was about to go ahead and ask, but then he remembered; the thing that had brought the question to mind hadn't even happened yet, it had happened on the night that his father had died and that meant that it would never happen, nor would it need to. He'd have to make something up, because really, he had to know.

Garsiv stopped gasping for breath and glowered at Dastan. "Alright, brat, let's have it then."

Dastan laughed nervously and placed one hand behind his head, already feeling just a bit...odd. "A short time ago..eh...father asked if I was...uh...interested in marriage yet...to a certain...eh...person...I couldn't find anything to say and...he...eh...he said that some people think that I am not yet wise..."

Garsiv started laughing hysterically, clapping Dastan on the shoulder several times. "Ah, brother, I wish I'd been there to see the look on your face when he said that! Although it is true...it's a good thing you'll be married soon, eh, prove them all wrong..."

Dastan winced at that. "But...what did he mean by that?"

Garsiv guffawed. "What do you mean what did he mean?"

Dastan blinked. "When he said I'm not yet wise, what does that mean?"

Garsiv gaped at him. "Don't play daft, Dastan, you know what he means!"

Dastan shook his head. "No, Garsiv, I don't. What does he mean? I don't wish him to think I'm an idiot, you know how father is, if we aren't wise then it's like...why are you laughing? This is important!"

Garsiv had started laughing to a degree that Dastan was worried there was something wrong with him. "Ahhh, brother, you really aren't wise yet!"

Dastan was starting to get annoyed. "What do you mean? Wise to what?"

Garsiv breathed a sigh of amusment, turning to Dastan once more. "There is no way under the stars that you don't know already!" he exclaimed, "Wise to...eh...you know..." now it was Garsiv who felt strange.

Dastan tilted his head a little, frowning. "No I don't know." he grinned crookedly, realizing that his brother wasn't enjoying this anymore and that meant that he could terrorize him. "Enlighten me."

Garsiv rolled his eyes. "You know where children come from, surely?"

Dastan nodded. "From their parents."

Garsiv slapped himself. "That's what father meant by wise, the reason their parents are together in the first place...how do you think they get the children?"

Dastan thought about it for a moment. "I don't know...how _do _they do it?"

Normally Garsiv would have laughed, thinking it was terribly funny. That is, he would have found it funny if it wasn't him that was having to explain this. "Well...um...you know...how can you possibly not know any of this? Didn't father tell you?"

Dastan shook his head. "Tell me what?"

Garsiv was getting more and more awkward as the conversation progressed. "Didn't your parents tell you?" he asked, a little desperately.

Dastan shook his head. "No, they died when I was seven..." he mumbled.

Garsiv figetted for another several moments.

And Dastan couldn't take it any more.

"Where do they get children?"

Garsiv winced and then decided to delay the inevitable in favour of letting Dastan find out the truth on his own later. "Um...well you see, when a man and a woman love each other very much...you do know what love is, don't you?"

Dastan was offended at that. "Of course I do!" he paused for a moment, noticing that Garsiv wanted him elaborate on his impression of the matter, and continued, "It's what makes people kiss each other..." he said hastily, feeling strange saying it, "Married couples to it a lot..."

Garsiv nodded. "I suppose that's good enough...well, when a man and a woman love each other very much, usually shortly after getting married, they decide that they want a baby." he paused to make sure that Dastan was following.

He was certainly following. "Then what happens?"

Garsiv took a deep breath and went on, "Then they write a letter to someone who lives far away and then an ostritch is sent during the night when no one can see it, it brings them the baby but it lives inside the mother until nine months go by, then they can show the baby to people and it generally makes the father talk strangely for a long time..." he coughed awkwardly.

Dastan nodded slowly, trying to absorb the information. Then another thought struck him. "How does a baby get inside someone?" he asked, just a little frightened and disgusted by the thought.

Garsiv wasn't willing to broach that topic. He wondered what he should do for a moment and then the though hit him. He leaned closer to Dastan and whispered in his ear two words. Two words that made Dastan abruptly give him a look somewhere between humour and anger.

"Ask Tus?" he exclaimed. "What would Tus know about it?"

Garsiv sighed and slapped himself. "Tus has several wives, Dastan," he said slowly, as if talking to a young child, "He's very wise."

"Ohhh..."

They were silent for a moment before a thought struck Garsiv. "Dastan, who did father want you to marry?"

Dastan hesitated, unsure of what to say. He couldn't very well say that Sharaman had wanted him to marry Tamina, because that would seem strange and he couldn't think of anyone else to suggest, but then a thought that wasn't so far from the truth came to his mind. He took a deep breath and replied, "Someone who died a long time from now..."

Garsiv raised an eyebrow. "You mean a long time past?"

Dastan nodded. "Of course I do.."

Garsiv smiled steadily and wrapped an arm around Dastans' shoulders again, this time pulling him in the general direction of the palace. "Come brother, let us allow Tus to enlighten you."


End file.
